Fever vs. Sparks: Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell Score 47 as Indiana Earns Its First Win of 2026, 87-78

Caitlin Clark's jump shot spent most of Wednesday night in airplane mode. She missed her first six 3-pointers and did not make one until there were 4:51 left in the fourth quarter, by which point the game was mostly settled anyway. That is the part worth sitting with: one of the most feared shooters in the league went 1 of 7 from deep and still ran the entire evening.

Clark still closed with 24 points and nine assists, Kelsey Mitchell scored 23, and Indiana left crypto.com Arena with an 87-78 win over the Los Angeles Sparks, the first victory of the 2026 season for the Fever. For a team that opened with a 107-104 home loss to Dallas, a nine-point road win in front of 12,605 felt like a very overdue exhale.

Controlled From the Jump

Clark set the tone early by scoring seven of Indiana's first nine points, all without needing the long ball, and the Fever took a 24-20 lead after one. The second quarter is where it stopped being competitive. A 29-26 game became 38-26 on a 9-0 run, Mitchell scored 11 in the quarter, and Indiana went to the locker room up 48-34 after shooting 56 percent for the half. Los Angeles managed 14 points in the quarter.

If the Sparks had any halftime adjustments ready, they did not survive the opening minutes of the third. An 8-0 Indiana run stretched it to 56-37, seven different Fever players scored in the period, and it was 68-52 going to the fourth. The lead got as high as 21.

Los Angeles did make it interesting, in the sense that a team down 15 with under five minutes to go can make things interesting. After Clark's lone 3 made it 78-63, the Sparks went on an 11-3 run, capped by a Kelsey Plum shot in the lane that cut it to 83-76 with 1:23 left. They even got the ball back after an Indiana turnover and had an open look from the corner. Plum missed it. Clark then found Mitchell on an inbounds play for a layup and an 85-76 lead with 33.2 seconds left, and that was the end of the suspense.

Two Guards, One Very Bad Night for the Sparks Defense

Clark's line deserves a closer look because it reveals how much of her game has nothing to do with the logo 3. She made 8 of 10 inside the arc, went 5 of 5 at the line, grabbed four rebounds and had two steals and a block. The six turnovers are the part she will not love, but when you are running the show for 31 minutes against a defense that is collapsing on you, that is the tax. Nine assists, and a 9-of-17 night overall, is a fine way to pay it.

Mitchell was the one doing the damage early. She had 17 points at the half on 7-of-9 shooting and finished 9 of 17 overall with three 3s. The Fever's notes count it as her 112th career 20-point game. One more pulls her even with Tina Thompson for the 20th most in WNBA history. Sophie Cunningham gave them 12 points and seven rebounds without committing a foul. Monique Billings, in her first regular-season game for Indiana, supplied nine and eight. Myisha Hines-Allen, meanwhile, picked up the 500th assist of her career late in the second quarter.

It was not a perfect night for the frontcourt. Aliyah Boston went 0 of 3 from the field, finished with four points and seven rebounds, and fouled out with 3:32 left in the fourth.

Plum did everything she could on the other side, scoring 25 on 9-of-16 shooting with four assists, though she also had five turnovers. Dearica Hamby was terrific on 6-of-8 shooting for 16 points and eight rebounds, Cameron Brink gave the Sparks 11 points and three blocks off the bench, and Nneka Ogwumike and Rae Burrell scored 10 apiece. Starter Ariel Atkins played just 16 minutes before leaving with what the AP described as a head injury.

The Nine-Minute Stretch That Broke It Open

If you want a turning point, look at the stretch from the middle of the second quarter through the first three minutes of the third. Los Angeles was within 29-26 with 6:33 left before halftime. By the 7:02 mark of the third, it was 56-37. That is a 27-11 Fever surge, bookended by those two runs, and it turned a tight road game into a long walk for a home crowd that had been hoping for a first win of its own.

Stats That Matter

• 24-14: Points off turnovers in Indiana's favor. The Fever scored 24 off 19 Sparks giveaways, while Los Angeles got just 14 off 17 from Indiana.
• 9 of 30 vs. 2 of 15: Three-point shooting. That is a 21-point Fever advantage from deep in a nine-point win, and Clark only hit one of them.
• 33-24: Indiana on the glass, including eight offensive rebounds.
• 23-13: Assists, with the Fever getting one on 23 of their 31 baskets.
• 46-36: Paint points for Los Angeles, which also won fast-break points 11-2. The Sparks won the close-range battle and got crushed everywhere else.

Where Things Stand

Indiana is 1-1 and heads home to face Washington on Friday. The Fever's offense has now put up 104 and 87 in two games, and the shooting numbers from their best shooter suggest there is still more in the tank.

Los Angeles is 0-2, both at home, having scored exactly 78 points in each of its two losses. The first was a 105-78 loss to Las Vegas. Toronto comes to crypto.com Arena on Friday, and Atkins' status will be something to watch.

Notifications On

Here is the uncomfortable takeaway for the rest of the league: Clark just went 1 of 7 from three and it barely registered. She found other ways to get 24, she piled up nine assists, and her team won by nine on the road. Sooner or later, that jumper is going to come off airplane mode, and when it does, everyone on the Fever's schedule is going to get the notification at the same time.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press. Team notes from the Indiana Fever team recap.